KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Not only is Jose Ramirez in the tank, he's on the bench.

The Indians' young shortstop was benched for the second straight night Thursday in favor of Mike Aviles as the Indians completed a three-game series against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

It was the second time this month and the third time this season that Ramirez has been benched in consecutive games because of poor play. Under normal circumstances the Indians would make an announcement Friday afternoon before they open their homestand against Baltimore and Seattle that Ramirez was being optioned to Class AAA Columbus.

No muss, just another roster move. But these are not normal circumstances.

The Indians don't think Francisco Lindor, being groomed as their next shortstop, is ready at Columbus. The player they could bring up, Zack Walters, isn't getting a lot of playing time at short because Lindor is getting it all.

So for the time being, Ramirez will stay with the Indians. The question is how much will he play?

"I'm just trying to win the game tonight," said Francona before Thursday's game when asked about Ramirez. "There has been times when Josie looks like he's turning the corner and there have been times when he looks like he's not."

Ramirez is hitting .184 (27-for-147) with one homer and eight RBI. He's scored 19 runs, but has a .245 slugging percentage and a .252 on-base percentage.

Among the 13 AL shortstops with at least 101 at-bats, Ramirez is 13th in average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage.

"He's getting beat on fastballs and then he's ahead of the breaking ball," said Francona. "I spent a lot of years doing that. I think it starts with his base. At times his feet want to move a round a little bit. Then you start to press."

Lindor is hitting .260 (50-for-192) with 21 runs, nine doubles, two homers and 21 RBI at Columbus. He has a .708 OPS with eight errors in 50 games.

The popular move would be to send Ramirez down and promote Lindor.

"It's not just that easy," said Francona. "You have to have somebody (to replace him). Lindor is not ready. He's really not. You just try to do the best you can."

Francona doesn't want to bury Ramirez. But the fact that he can't talk to him - Francona can't speak Spanish and Ramirez doesn't speak much English - is complicating matters because communicating with players is one of Francona's strengths.

First base coach Sandy Alomar is liaison between Francona and Ramirez.

"I've been around coaches and managers who just want to get rid of guys. Who say, "Get me somebody else,'" said Francona. "I don't ever want to be like that. We take it personally. When a guy is struggling, we want to help him.

"That's probably my biggest frustration. There are times when I feel I can help Jose, but talking to him is hard. It bothers me. It hurts.

"I don't want this kid to feel like he's on an island."

Regarding Lindor, Francona said, "He had a good doubleheader the other day. He's a little beat up physically, too.

Walters, who has already had one brief tour with the Tribe this year, is hitting .250 (25-for-100) with six doubles, two homers and 15 RBI at Columbus. The Indians are trying to make Walters a utility man and he's played four games at first, four games at second, five at third, two at short and eight in the outfield.

When Ramirez was struggling earlier in the season, the Indians talked about playing Aviles at short and using Walters as his backup.

Don't forget third: While Ramirez is drawing bench time for his poor hitting at shortstop, Lonnie Chisenhall isn't doing much better at third.

Chisenhall is hitting .216 (35-for-162) with 10 doubles, four homers and 19 RBI. He has a .364 slugging percentage and a .250 on-base percentage. In the AL he ranks 14th in OPS (.621) among the 14 third basemen with at least 157 at-bats.

As in Ramirez's case, there's not a lot of push from down below to replace Chisenhall.

Prospect Giovanny Urshela finally appears to be back at full strength. Following a spring training back injury. Francona said he just recently started playing at Columbus without restrictions.

Urshela is hitting .279 (19-for-68) with three homers, eight RBI and a .785 OPS.

"He's doing fine, but his playing time got cut into," said Francona.

Urshela is not an option right now to replace Chisenhall, who still has a minor-league option left.

"In fairness to him we have to let him play for a while," said Francona.

Finally:Michael Brantley, after not playing Wednesday night, DH'd Thursday. It was the fifth time Brantley has been the designated hitter this year.

Francona is trying to find ways to keep Brantley healthy and in the lineup. When he gave Brantley the night off Wednesday he said the outfielder was "beat up."